Chapter 2
Sam was acting weird, he left at ungodly hours and came back very late for weeks, I am not the kind of person to intrude on my brother's life but it was weird. Whenever I saw Sam, he seemed happy. I shared those thoughts with Cas one night while we were in bed. Cas doesn't sleep but when there is not a case to work with, he lays down with me at night.
“Cas, something is wrong with Sam” Castiel was reading a book about bees in wildlife. He was passionate about those things. He looked up from his book
“What do you mean? He seems fine to me”
“Yes he is fine, even happy, but that's not normal, it's not a bad thing, but really is just weird. I think that's not my brother” Cas closed his book and started to pay attention to what I was saying, that's what I loved the most about Cas, it didn't matter what I needed to talk about he always listened to me.
“Don't be ridiculous Dean, he is fine and maybe he is just happy. It's been months since we trapped Lucifer in heaven, maybe Sam just stopped worrying about him and is trying to live his life, for the first time the fullest, you know how much my brother has affected Sam’s psych” I looked at him, and maybe he is right, but something just doesn't add up. Sure, we were having a good streak with hunts after Lucifer was trapped by Gabriel, but Sam is not the kind of guy to just smile all the time and someone that disappears without telling us where he is going. I was lost in my thoughts when I felt his hand on my butt.
“Stop worrying love, I’m pretty sure everything is fine and your thoughts are so loud that I can’t block them” he gave my butt a warning tap “and please don't do anything stupid, don't interfere with your brother's life, you will not like the aftermath, I can assure you it's not going to be fun for you”. I moved and hugged Cas
“I'll try Cas, but you know that when it comes to Sammy, I just act, and I'm telling you something is not right” The truth is that I'm a control freak, and sometimes when things are not as they usually are my mind just goes away with anxiety. I really hope that nothing is wrong with him. Cas knows this, and he just hugs me tighter
“Everything is going to be fine, and if it's not, I will help you with whatever is happening”.
“I hope you’re right Cas” he gave me a kiss on the top of my head and just held me till I fell asleep.
I woke up, without Cas by my side, I looked at my alarm clock and it was 5:30 AM, I usually wake up at 7, so this is my opportunity to talk with Sam. I stood up and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth and get dressed, I like to sleep without a shirt because that way I can feel Cas better.
I went directly to the kitchen, as I expected there was Sam, eating some healthy kind of cereal with his almond milk while reading a book. I don't know why he enjoys that, it tastes like paper to me. Anyway, I decide to start with my own breakfast, some eggs, and bacon, and thank god there is coffee for me.
“Good morning Sammy” He looks up, and smiles.
“Good morning Dean, why are you awake this early, will you like to go for a run?” I looked at Sam, he really was crazy, I don't know why loves to run, it only takes me back to a place where dad made us run till we threw up. “You know I don't like to run, I don't even know why you do that every morning”
“Dean, you know, I like to stay in shape, it helps me to be faster on hunts and makes me feel better, you should try it sometimes.”
“I'm in good shape Sam, I do workout too, but running is just for when you're being chased… Come on, is not worth the effort” he smiles at me again. “Anyway, what's up with you Sam? You’ve been really sneaky these last weeks, I don't even get the chance to talk to you as I used to” He looks at me, and his face changes, I know that face, is the one when he is thinking about what he is going to respond, without getting in trouble or when he doesn't want me to know something. See what I've been talking about? Sam is really up to something.
“Nothing really, I've just been busy.” “Busy with what?” I ask him like when he was younger and I just caught him taking a cookie from the jar. At that moment Cas enters the kitchen eyeing me with his disapproving look.
“What is going in here?” Cas asks as he pours himself a cup of coffee, he can’t really eat but has found some comfort in coffee
“Nothing really, I’m going for a run, Wanna come?” Sam responds to Cas' question as he gets up from his chair. He doesn't even finish his cereal.
“Thank you Sam for asking but you know I don’t need to do that, but if you want some company I can join you. You know that”
“No thank you, Cas, See you guys later” Sam leaves the kitchen, and Cas looks at me.
“Don't look at me like that, there is something bothering Sam” “Dean you're being paranoid, stop trying to intrude in your brother's life, this is your last warning” I rolled my eyes and was surprised when he stood me up and gave me a hard swat on my butt.
“Don’t roll your eyes at me, Dean, it's rude you know that we are trying to make a better example for Jack” After that he took his seat in front of me
“He is not here Cas” I answered. And at that moment I heard Jack pouring himself a glass of milk and some eggs and bacon. I blushed hard.
Jack knows the consequences for being rude and we have made it very clear that no one is above those rules here. Yes, we swear a little, we don't mind when he does, but when someone is being rude or disrespectful that's a no-no in our lifestyle. And don't let me get started with what happens when he rolls his eyes at Cas, I sometimes am a big softie with him and there are times that I let it go when I think he is not doing it on purpose, but Cas is another thing. Sometimes Cas says that I spoil him a lot, that's not it, is just that I don't find it that rude.
“Sorry Jack, Good morning kiddo” He smiles at me and sits in the seat next to me, and gives me a hug.
“Good morning Dean, why are you awake?” I stopped myself from rolling my eyes again, I don't want to feel Cas’ hand again. And before I answer him I think about it. When we are hunting free I don't really wake up this early. Jack does sometimes, but that's only when he joins Sam on his run
“Well Jack, I don't really know. I just woke up early, What about you?, Sam already left” He looks at me and then at Cas.
“Well, I've been slacking on my homeschool work so I'm trying to make up for the lost time” That was not the answer that I expected when Cas came back from the Empty, he decided that we needed some ground rules, to make Jack's upbringing easier, and one of those rules is to not slack on school work. I looked at Cas, and his demeanor changes, he looks at Jack with his stern, ”you're in trouble face”.
“Why is that Jack?” Cas asked him, the kid sometimes was oblivious about body language but the tone of Cas' question made him shift on his seat.
“Well dad, don't be like that, it's not that important '' He responds with some attitude and taking off his cellphone, he has a death wish. He only calls Cas Dad, I thought it was really cute. He sometimes calls me dad too, but it was rare, I think that the term only escapes his mouth when he is in trouble with me or when he is having some extreme emotion. I don't mind him calling me by my name.
“Your education is important Jack and watch that attitude, I'm not in the mood, ask your father,” Cas says in a no-nonsense tone. My heart always stops when he calls me Jack's father, it's not a bad feeling let me tell you. “You should take it more seriously, I don't want to hear again that you’re slacking off, you know that I'll take your privileges, such as your cellphone, videogames or laptop if you don't,” He says warning Jack
“Whatever” at that moment Cas stands up and goes over to Jack and takes his phone. “HEY!, give it back.” He yells at Cas. This is not how I thought this morning was going to be. Cas's eyes change and with ease, he stands Jack up and gives him three rapid swats on his butt. “I’m getting tired of your attitude Jack, take this as a warning, I don't want to hear anything else in that tone of yours. You're getting it back when you catch up with your work, and even then, if I don’t see your attitude improving I'm not going to give it back, take that into consideration. You're on really thin ice, Are we Clear?”
“Yes Sir” Jack's eyes start to water a little and he responds without an attitude
“Good,” He tells him and hugs Jack, then goes to his office with Jacks' phone. There is a locked drawer warded with Enochian symbols for this purpose.
When Cas was out of the kitchen, I looked at Jack and talked to him.
“What's going on kid? you don't usually do this. Are you okay?” I ask while hugging my boy. He looks at me
“I don’t know Dad, it just happened, I'm sorry” I hug him harder
“Well kid, please try to do your work, and know that if this happens again you’re going to be in trouble with me too” He stares at his plate. He knows that I am on board to punish him when there is something wrong with his attitude or actions.
“Okay Dad, I’ll try my best” with that he finishes his meal in silence. I don't know what's wrong with this household, first Sam acting strange and now Jack, being a teenager. It is going to be hard if he keeps that attitude. It even helped me a little to think about Jack, as I worried about him, Sam was out of my thoughts for that moment.
Jack goes to finish his schoolwork or at least he is going to try, he leaves the kitchen without a word or without trying to clean his plate. I was going to scold him about that, but he was long gone.
I started to clean the kitchen and think about what I was going to do about this situation.
Did I mention that I was a control freak?